Family calls 911 after getting lost in corn maze

DANVERS, Mass. — Oct. 11, 2011

An evening stroll through a corn maze took a confusing turn Monday for a family that became disoriented in the rows of corn and called 911 to ask for help.

A father and mother with two children used their cell phone to call Danvers Police at 6:32 p.m. reporting that they were lost in the Connors Farm corn maze. Danvers Officer Justin Ellenton responded to the call and entered the corn maze with Connor’s Farm manager Ritchie Potter to search for the family.

Within nine minutes of entering the maze, Ellenton and Potter found the family. The family had almost found their way out; unbeknownst to them, they were only 25 feet from the street. Police were not releasing the name of the family.

The 7-acre corn maze is a challenging course, said owner of the farm, Bob Connor. This year’s course with a design cut into the corn of the “Salem Village Headless Horseman” may be trickier than years past Connor said. Other designs from previous years included “Eastwood,” with Clint Eastwood’s face emblazoned through the corn, and “Family Guy.”

“We had a few people who got a bit lost last year, but they found their way out,” Connor said. “There is no wire or fence around the maze, so if they really want or need to get out all they have to do is listen for the sound of traffic.”

Connor said that the farm has a night security person on hand every night who stays until everybody leaves.

“We make sure there are no cars left in the parking lot. We don’t want to leave anybody behind in the maze,” Connor said. Connor had just left the farm for the evening when he got a call from a friend who had heard on the police scanner that somebody was stuck in the maze.

“They were a really nice family. We offered for them to come back on us and try the maze again – but I think they had enough,” Connors said.